7 Factors of Adolescent Aggressive Behaviors

Physical Abuse Increase the Risk of being Aggressive

Adolescence is the stage of transforming both physical and emotional development of children. The children development occurs in form of emotional and cognitive ability which leads to their ability in establishing social life. As it is very important to monitor their behavior, activities related to their development is crucial to be monitored.

Aggressive Personality in Children Activities

The acts of aggression is defined as reactionary and impulsive behavior that commonly is caused by the disobeying of household rules, social and religious norms as well as the law. This characteristic can be a big issue for both parents and the children themselves which occur in their stages of growing/ adolescence. Aggressive characteristics constitutes intended harm to another individual without thinking whether this individual is their relatives. Children psychological theories might have been argued in finding the causes of aggressive behavior in human beings (not only adults) including children and adolescence.

Different observation can be seen through the gender of adolescence. For boys, the typical behavior occurs in physical appearances such as the size of body parts, the height, and as well as endurance in doing some sports. On the other hand, girls may have occurred in form fashion factors such as new clothing, shoes, and hairstyle. However, boys are almost always more aggressive than girls without concerning the intention.

Aggression from Toddlers to Adolescence

Social scientists argue the aggressive characteristics has been started before the early adolescence ages. Although there are many factors that can cause their aggressiveness to be more, their earlier aggression is not exactly the same as adults do, such as competitiveness and jealousy. In toddlers age, which the age between two and four years, show their aggressive outbursts in forms of yelling, crying, tempers, damaging toys and furniture hurting someone nearby them including their parents, grandparents, siblings, relatives, and strangers. The aggression usually happens to express their disappointment and compliance due to their parents restriction in purchasing the things they want such as sandals, clothes, shoes, and toys.

For pre-school and kindergarten ages, between four to 6 year age, they often to show their aggressiveness toward their siblings and friends. This aggressive activities are not caused of competitiveness or even more jealousy, but it is merely occurred of the insults made by their older siblings or friends. Next, aggressive boys and girls in their adolescent ages are observed throughout their emotional and social interaction such as lying, snatching, and vandalism.

7 Common Factors of Aggressive Behavior in Adolescence

Although no confirmed theories can cause the linear influences for the aggressive behavior in adolescence,  assumption related to this aggression may have begun to the frustration in expressing their disappointment and compliance. Adolescents tend to show their self-personality, and this self-esteem lasts until they reach adult. It is also their responses in expressing their anxiety and feeling of incompetence.

Another factor is the exposure cultural violence experienced either directly or indirectly. Violence includes a wide range of behaviors such as explosive temper tantrums, physical aggression, fighting, threats, and the temptation in hurting someone or harassing others. Violent personalities can also be seen in their action in hurting animals or destructing walls or public properties such as traffic signs. The development of aggressive behavior could be caused by these common factors:

1. being a victim of physical and sexual abuse
2. seeing direct violence in home and neighborhood
3. exposure of violence from media (TV, movies, internet gaming)
4. use of drugs and alcohol
5. curiosity of using weapons that are continuously displayed
6. combination of stressful family such as poverty, marital breakup, unemployment, single parenting, loss of support from extended family.
7. brain injury

To monitor their aggressive characteristics, parent can teach children nonviolence activities as well as maintaining and improving their emotional and cognitive abilities. For children and toddlers, frequent short stories before bedtime are effective in preventing violent behavior, while for adolescents reading, worksheets, and camping activities can train them both their physical and emotional developments.

Does Only Physical Development Occur in Adolescence?

Adolescence is the period of self-personality formation

Meaning of Adolescence

In general term, adolescence might have defined as teenage years as the human growth. As it is stated as teen-age, this term continuously starts from the age of thirteen to nineteen. Subsequently, it is also called as the growing age from children state to adult condition. However, some people believe that the only important aspect during these ages is the growth of physical appearance such as the body mass, height, and even more the sexual desire. Nevertheless, another crucial factors are being avoided that can affect the children's personality. What are the other developments that must be considered to monitor?

Puberty state

Puberty state is the beginning state of child development. The children transforms biologically in certain aspects including the changing of voices, the growth of hair in specific body parts such as armpit and genital area, as well as the sexual reproduction. As it occurs mainly in certain body parts, puberty is also defined as biological transition in particular in term of sexual reproduction. Although cultural and social environment may have influenced the transition greatly, typical indicator happens when the children experience the secretion of reproduction hormone in form of wet dreams for boys or fist menstrual period for girls. This physical and biological maturation varies widely depending on the biological mechanisms, but, mostly it happens for eighteen months to six years in girls, while two to five years in boys.

Emotional transition state

As it is mentioned previously that hormone of reproduction occurs, the most dramatic changes can be observed from not only the physical appearance, but it is also in emotional development. In this period, children perspectives change differently in self-conceptions.

During adolescence, important shifts occur in the way persons think and characterize their self-personality. Compared with children, who tend to describe themselves in relatively simple, concrete terms, in this transition phase, they are more likely to employ complex, abstract, and psychological characterizations such as do I look beautiful and handsome on these clothing? does someone get interested if I wear this sneakers, shoes? As a result, their understanding focuses on self-esteem rather than any other aspects.

Cognitive transition state

The next non-physical appearance change occurs in the cognitive functions of adolescence. According to the Gale Encyclopedia, the cognitive transition state can be observed in five ways. The first one is their ability in thinking the possible outcome. As during children, they tend to think straightforwardly, an adolescent individual proceeds to think hypothetically. Secondly, this hypothetical thinking leads them to make predictions outcome in form of abstract idea. In this stage, they start to think what is the meaning of friendship, honesty, fairness, and faith.

The next observation from cognitive transformation in adolescence is self-esteem thinking. In this stage, hormone might have played importantly, however, tendency in comparing their personal attributes is highly expressed such as egocentrism and attention. Then, the combination of hypothetical thinking, egocentrism, attention leads to multidimensional thinking. They tend to see in different ways with themselves as the basis of ideal condition. Finally, adolescents tend to see things as relative, which can be manifested into questioning assertions and less likely to accept the concept of facts as the absolute truth.

Social transition state

Sexual desire, self-esteem, friendship, attention are combined to form social behaviour. This phenomenon is manifested by the tendency of adolescents to spend lot of time to their peers (-related ages), which could lead to physical and sexual relationships. Although the tendency of preferences in term of opposite sex can be begun in the early time of adolescence, significant changing happens after they have obtained the previous three states.

Based on these four states, adolescence is the important period for parents to monitor both of their physical and emotional developments rather than only focus on their physical appearances.